Some of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most vocal fans are up in arms over the Kremlin’s latest move to restrict the Telegram messaging service and push people to use a new state-backed alternative. Roskomnadzor said the new limits were because the service failed with Russian laws requiring personal data to be stored locally. “I don’t support proposals to introduce limitations on Telegram,” Mizulina posted on her Telegram channel last week. Several military bloggers on Telegram, including Arkhangel Spetsnaza, with over 1.1 million subscribers, said in posts the move risks leaving soldiers without communications. Downloads of an app designed to allow people access to Telegram without using a VPN have soared in recent days.

Source: Bangkok Post February 17, 2026 22:47 UTC